The Nai Children: Chapter #1

Written by: Tabyk (owner@tabyk.net) (www.tabyk.net)

     * Borrowed story and character elements belong to their original 
creators: Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), Hitoshi Tomizawa (Alien Nine), Yu 
Aida (Gunslinger Girl), and Yosuke Kuroda / Yasunari Toda (Scryed). This 
story was written for entertainment purposes only.
     * My usual thanks to CyMage for all the editing and proofing, even 
if I did have to kick him a few times first.
     * Foreign languages are show as: Chinese / English

     * Author Note: All the characters in this fan fiction are unique to
this story, and do not exist in their prespective sources. I am just
borrowing the background / abilities / etc.

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The compound was a contrast of chrome and grays. Almost all of the 
architecture was made of either thick concrete or heavy wood painted in 
what had to be the most depressing shade of charcoal I'd ever seen. 
Shiny new steel bars could be seen over every window, and even before 
reaching the dormitory's front door I could tell that it had been steel 
bound reinforced as well. Besides the main dormitory I could see only 
one other building within the walls that encompassed everything, and 
that was it. No play grounds, no grass fields, nothing else that even 
hinting at the purpose of the supposed school.

The Director's earlier assurances that things would be easy and 
comfortable were quickly vanishing when compared to the stark reality 
before me.

Being escorted in by two armed men from the military wasn't helping either.

"Ms. Takemoto?"

An older gentleman, also with that stiff military posture, suddenly 
stepped out from behind one of the two concrete pillars that guarded the 
main doors taking me by surprise. With a single step towards me he 
quickly bowed, giving me a brief look at his thinning gray hair, before 
standing once more.

"It is good to see you, Ms. Takemoto. I am Kishita Kane, the Head of 
Security here at Nai Acadamy. If you would please follow me I will show 
you to the official liaison stationed here, Mr. Inoue."

Watching the man's muscles ripple with the effort of opening that front 
door, yet still somehow managing to make it look effortless in the 
process, made me wince in anticipation of myself trying to open it later on.

No, this place wasn't anything like the Director had allured to.

Stepping inside I discovered that the interior of the buildings were as 
bad as the exterior, with nothing but sterile whites and harsh bright 
lighting in the hallways. I also noticed that my original escort hadn't 
followed me inside, and were instead already half-way back to the main 
gate to let themselves out.

"I truely am sorry about the slightly draconian security here, Ms. 
Takemoto-"

"Slight?"

"-but I assure you, it's for your protection. The status of this project 
is questionable at the moment, for a number of reasons. With the U.N. 
finally starting to make some headway, our own government is now divided 
on how to handle those that we've collected in our own efforts to deal 
with this crisis."

Then glancing at me as we walked down the stark hallway he added, "But 
enough of politics for now." Obviously my attempts to hide the sour look 
on my face had been less then successful.

"With only two buildings on the grounds they've compacted everything as 
much as they could here. The main floor here contains a classroom, 
social room, a small cafeteria, health center, and necessary office 
space. Above us are the private bedrooms, shower facilities, and laundry 
for all nine of us."

"Nine?"

"Yes. You, Mr. Inoue, myself, two aids, and the children."

"There are only four of them?"

Finding myself stumbling at Kishita's sudden stop I turned to find 
myself being sujected to a heavily scrutinizing gaze. Eventually he 
asked, "Ms. Takemoto, have you been fully briefed with what you will be 
doing here?"

"I-" but then I stopped. Exactly what HAD the director told me when I'd 
been recruited? That it paid well? That it was a 'comfortable' job? That 
I should be proud of helping my country? Glancing around, looking once 
more at the desolate hallway, I sighed before shaking my head.

"No, I haven't been told anything."

"But you were recruited by Director Hoshinaka, correct?"

"Er, yes. Hoshinaka Yukio hired me."

His gaze wandered off a moment before he firmly nodded once and stated, 
"That's good enough for me." Then gesturing towards one of the doors up 
ahead he added, "Official Liaison Inoue Jiro's office is through here. 
He's expecting you. I'll complete the grounds tour after you've seen him."

The fact that Kishita himself, as head of security, wouldn't be included 
in this meeting spoke loudly to me... but of what, I still wasn't sure.

Nodding myself I paused before the indicated door, already nervous about 
what I might be facing, before I knocked twice and opened the door...

...and stepped straight into luxury.

Compared to the barren grounds and hallway, the office was a work of 
art. The soft tones of the carpet blended into the walls, plants, and 
furniture perfectly, and their placement screamed Feng Shui at me. Only 
the lazy puff of smoke headed in my general direction threw it all off.

"Ms. Takemoto Mikako, so nice of to join us here at Nai Acadamy."

If Kishita Kane was the epitome of military baring, then Inoue Jiro 
surely encompassed all that was lazy politics.

The man sat well back into his adjustable chair, both feet resting on 
the corner of the obviously expensive desk, even as he read over a 
printed report held in his off hand. Other neat little piles of 
paperwork, placed with almost artistic sense, took up whatever space 
that his tri-monitor computer system didn't. His black hair was 
carefully groomed and parted, and I doubt his suit had ever seen a speck 
of dirt in its life.

I instintively found myself disliking him.

"I'm delighted that you were able to join us on such short notice, and I 
do hope that you're ready to jump right in. Now, I don't want to waste 
any of your time here when you should be getting acquainted with your 
charges. Oh, and should you need anything at all, do please let me know 
and I'll make every effort to accommodate you. Yes... anything at all."

"Thank you, Mr. Inoue, I look forward to working here."

His next exhale of cigarette smoke hit me directly in the face and I 
found myself coughing as it scratched at my throat and sinuses.

"Please, Ms. Takemoto, don't let me keep you from your enormous duties 
and responsibilities."

Bowing briefly I turned and exited, closing the door quickly, but 
quietly, behind me, before breaking out into a second coughing fit even 
as my eyes started to water. Whatever brand the man smoked, it was 
potent. Feeling a handkerchief being pressed into my hand, I use it to 
wipe my eyes and face before clearing my nose out. The fit finally over 
I looked up to find Kishita patiently waiting, an almost amused 
expression gracing his face. Handing the now dirty cloth back to him I 
muttered, "Thank you."

Straightening myself up and taking a couple of deep breaths I then 
turned to face him and bluntly asked, "What is going on, and why am I here?"

Calmly gesturing to the next door down the hall he answered, "If you 
will step into my office I believe I can bring you up to speed. And I 
don't smoke."

I would have taken it as a joke if he hasn't said it with such a 
straight face.

Stepping into his office I couldn't help but notice the differences 
between his and Inoue's. Plain wash walls and floor with a simple throw 
rug, cheap but moderately comfortable chairs, and a desk that spoke of 
pure functionality. In fact, the only similarity that the two offices 
shared at all was the elaborate computer systems gracing the desks.

Gesturing for me to sit he then asked, "Ms. Takemoto, what do you know 
of the Juanchaka?"

I distinctly felt my stomach drop, and after opening and closing my 
mouth a couple times finally said, "They killed my husband."

It wasn't what I had ment to say, but the sudden surge of emotion within 
me had hit too hard, too quickly. Emotional scars often took longer then 
physical ones to heal... my own were still quite fresh.

"But what do you know about them?"

Mentally stumbling for a moment I then admitted, "Only what is shown on 
television, what's been published. The police were not very... 
forthcoming, with all the details."

Taking a moment to rub his hand against his short hair he said, "Over 
the last twenty-five years since their first appearance, scientists 
around the world have been investigating every instance of the Juanchaka 
that they could. Unfortunately the total volume of information is still 
quite limited, but we do know a number of things now."

"So far they have only appeared in places with high amounts of living 
matter. Any living matter. In fact, it was proven three years ago that 
they appear most often in heavily forested areas with little urban 
growth. One would think that places of highly dense human population 
would also count, but with the tremendous amount of damage we do to our 
natural surroundings we actually lower the chances somewhat."

"We also now know that there at least eight seperate species of 
Juanchaka. The one that is so widely shown in the news, which we call a 
type 7, just happens to be the most common. It's known that they are 
carnivores, and do need to eat to survive. We also know, as does 
everyone, that they can be killed... eventually."

"Their method of turning insubstantial for faster travel, or fading, 
however, still completely baffles every researcher we have at our 
disposal, though we do know it takes exactly two to three minutes for 
one to fade in or out, and they can't move around much at all while 
doing so."

"We know that they hate fire, though it doesn't seem to actually hurt 
them much, and that their metabolisms react strangely to naturally 
produced endorphines, almost like a drug... and is the most likely 
reason why they go for a person's head first."

"Nai Academy was founded for the sole purpose of finding better ways to 
fight, and kill, these creatures, Ms. Takemoto. To answer your question 
from earlier, the reason why there are only four children here is 
because there are only four documentable children, in the whole world, 
who have killed multiple Juanchaka single handedly, and survived."

I stared at him... my mind going twenty directions at once with the 
information I'd just been given, before I finally asked, "Then what do 
you want with me?"

"I need you... We need you, to take care of those children while the 
military tries to make them do it again."

"You're crazy."

The whole thing was absolutely insane. If so much was known about the 
Juanchaka, then why wasn't the information public? The things had killed 
over two thousand people in the last year alone, and every year it got 
worse. Fighting them with children?!?

"Believe me, if I were in your position I would think the same thing, 
but I'm not. These children do exist, they're here, and they've been 
here for almost two weeks now. But we need someone who knows children, 
has worked with them their entire lives, to help us help them. Someone 
who will make sure to treat them as children, and not saluting soldiers 
at a war front. And that, Ms. Takemoto, is why you are here."

Slowly standing he gathered and placed four office envelopes into my 
numb hands before saying, "I should check on them, I'll be right back."

He got as far as the door before I jerk myself to my feet and almost 
yelled, "I'm coming with you!"

Pausing only a second he finally said, "Of course."

The hallway ended in a wide set of stairs going upward and secondary 
halls branching off to both the left and right. Heading down the left 
hall we approached another man that was standing guard before a set of 
double doors. To be honest, I didn't know what managed to crank my 
nervousness higher... the fact that he was armed with one of the largest 
rifles I'd ever seen, television included, or the fact that he was one 
of the tallest caucasians I'd ever met.

"How are things going, Harold?"

"Quiet so far, Kishita sir."

Gesturing towards me Kishita then said, "Takemoto Mikako, please meet 
Harold Thompson, one of my two security aids here at Nai. Harold, Ms. 
Takemoto is our new dorm mother for the children."

Nodding towards me the man said, "It's nice to meet you ma'am. I imagine 
the children will be happy to see you."

Except for a noticeable accent, his Japanese was perfect.

Stepping up to the door Kishita then asked the man, "Is Fleta still in 
her room?"

"Yes sir, per Inoue's orders, sir."

"Bring her down so she can meet Ms. Takemoto along with the others."

The man hesitated only a moment, his eyes suddenly nervous as they 
flashed from myself to Kishita, before he answered, "Right away, sir." 
He then disappeared up the stairs we'd passed and was gone.

A moment later Kishita pushed open the doors and walked in, and though 
terrified of what I was about to see, an almost deranged facination had 
bubbled up within me. Visions of mutant children armed with military 
weapons were running rampant within my imagination. And it couldn't be 
true... it was just too crazy to be true.

So I followed him in.

And was greeted with the sight of three perfectly normal little girls.

After all the tension, all the build-up, I almost burst out laughing in 
relief. The military wanted these little girls to fight Juanchaka? These 
were the children that had supposedly killed the shadowy demons that 
have preyed on every other living creature that this planet held? They 
couldn't have been more then 10 years old. It absolutely had to be a farce.

Then I saw the plushy creature hat that one of the girls was wearing blink.

Twice.

I'm fairly certain I managed not to scream as I passed out.

Opening my eyes I found Kishita's face hovering over me even as he 
asked, "Ms. Takemoto, are you feeling well?"

I stared at him a second before I realized I was laying on the floor, 
and then it all came back in a rush and I was scrambling backwards until 
I hit the wall next to the doorway, all the time staring at... at the 
thing atop the girl's head.

It had blue skin with tucked white feathered wings and enormously large 
eyes, like a fish. It's lips were almost completely unnoticeable, but as 
I continued to watch I tell that it was breathing, if ever so slightly. 
And I knew for a certainty that it was looking right back at me.

Then Kishita was kneeling before me again, pushing the forgotten office 
envelopes into my hands once more while quietly saying, "Ms. Takemoto, 
please get a hold of yourself."

Taking a couple of deep breaths, and then a couple more, I finally asked 
as calmly as I could, "What is that thing?"

"That thing, as you call it, is called Quig, and it is here because it 
killed two Juanchaka a month ago while protecting Mee's life, it's... host."

"Mee?"

Gently, but firmly, pulling me to my feet Kishita loudly cleared his 
throat before turning towards the girls and announcing, "Children, this 
is Ms. Takemoto Mikako, and she is the new dorm mother here." Then 
turning slightly back towards me he continued, "Ms. Takemoto, I would 
like to present to you Ji Mee, from the late People's Republic of 
China." With a gesture towards one of the other girls he said, "Over 
here we have Borisova doch Vania, from Russia." Then pulling a third 
girl out from behind him he mentioned while padding her comfortingly on 
the shoulder, "And this is Yamafuru Cho, who originally hailed from 
Yokohama. Not too far from where you were born I believe."

I tried to smile at Cho, but I'm certain it didn't come out right, 
before briefly looking over the three girls... and trying hard not to 
look at it. The quiet knock at the door was a welcome distraction.

Pushing open the door was the caucasian security guard, Harold, and he 
was looking extremely nervous as he very carefully nudged another girl 
into the room.

"Ma'am, I was told that you speak English. Is that right?"

"Er, yes, as well as Chinese."

"Good." Gesturing towards the girl in front of him Harold then added, 
"She doesn't speak Japanese."

Glancing at Kishita in question he answered, "Fleta Stone, originally 
from Great Britain."

Crouching down I looked at the girl, who's eyes were directed at the 
floor, and said, "Hello, Fleta Stone. My name is Mikako."

The silence as I waited for some kind of reply, or even a response, 
lasted maybe ten seconds before I quickly glanced at the other girls, 
just now noticing something that I should have earlier.

None of them smiled.

They didn't smile, they didn't laugh... they didn't even talk. Not a 
word. They just waited.

My mind now running along more familiar paths I began to take in their 
surroundings, ten years of elementary school teaching, two of them in 
special education, pushing everything else out of my mind, if only for a 
minute.

The room, while large, was sparsely furnished. There were two couches, a 
large centerpiece coffee table, a half-full bookshelf, and a television 
on a small stand. All of it new, but that was it. No toys, no games, 
nothing.

Slowly standing I asked, "Kishita, you said this was the... Social Room?"

"Yes."

Once again, I looked at the man is if he were crazy, and almost missed 
his subtle nod. Looking over the children once more I felt a horrible 
urge to cringe.

"I'd like to see their rooms now."

"Of course, Teacher Takemoto. If you would please follow me." As I left 
the room I once again felt its eyes watching me, but for once I didn't care.

Following the man upstairs, all I could now think of was, 'What have 
they done to these children?'

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     As he watched the woman finally look at the children, at the 
mockery of a play room that they were standing in, his uncertainties 
about her eased a little. Fainting had been unexpected, but most people 
never even noticed the alien for what it was initially, and once she had 
met the Kingdom girl, she'd bounced back fast.

     And now, now she was all business. She was terrible at hiding 
things from her face, but then she also wasn't in the military... or a 
politician, and he could see her taking it all in, categorizing it, 
analyzing it, and already coming to the same conclusion that he had two 
weeks ago.

     The facilities were a sham, and no self-respecting person would 
ever reside in them if given even half an opportunity, but even that 
wasn't available to those children. Now he just needed to know what she 
was going to do next. She would try to help, of that he was certain. No, 
the real question was, would she simply take what she might get...

     ...or was she going to fight.

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Looking at the fourth spartan room in a row I muttered aloud, "This 
isn't a dormitory... it's a jail cell."

Watching me from the corner of his eye Kishita lightly replied, "Isn't 
that possibly being a little harsh?"

Shooting my angriest glare at the man I snapped back, "And what was your 
bedroom like when you were a child?" Stomping into the room I pulled 
open Cho's top dresser drawer and found exactly two pairs of underwear 
and socks, along with a single night shirt. The second revealed a folded 
sweater. The third, a long skirt and a pair of jeans.

The closet held three shirts and a dress, along with a pair of outdoor 
walking shoes. The night stand only held a hairbrush. Underneath the 
bed, spotless and barren.

"Where are the rest of their things?"

"I don't understand what you're asking, Teacher Takemoto."

His light, almost non che lant tone filled me with a sudden desire to 
rip the man's head off. "Their clothes, Kishita. Theirs toys... their 
stuff! Where is it all?!"

"This is it."

Mouth open I stared at him before sputtering, "That's CRAZY! Nobody 
could live like this!"

The man was in my face so fast I never saw him move, but my own stubborn 
anger stopped me from backpeddling. "Takemoto... if you have a problem 
with the way things are being handled here, then I suggest you fix them."

And just like that it all clicked together, the understanding hitting me 
like a bucket of cold water. He knew it how bad it was... how inhumane, 
but he couldn't fix it, it wasn't his job.

It was mine.

I almost asked how it had gotten this way, but Inoue Jiro's luxurious 
office suddenly sprang to mind, and I already had my answer. So instead 
I just closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and as calmly as I could 
said, "Show me the rest."

I spent the next hour getting aquainted with the rest of the building, 
and it never got any better. The laundry and shower facilities were bare 
minimums with no allowance for gender privacy, and my own bedroom 
actually managed to look even more empty then the girls due to an 
unexpected delay in the shipping of my things.

The downstairs classroom had a teachers podium, a clean blackboard, and 
ten chair/desk units. No supplies other then some chalk, an eraser, 
pencils, and plain white paper were to be found. The cafeteria was 
similarly devoid, designed to accommodate 20 people or more, and so 
sparsely furnished it might as well have been empty. The back kitchen 
was designed for a full staff, and with the exception of a few snacks 
that Kishita's aids had brought in, was also completely barren. 
Appearantly meals were simply delivered three times per day.

As it turns out there was a yard, hidden behind both of the buildings, 
but the ground was almost clay and devoid of any vegetation besides a 
few sparse patches of grass. The second building was revealed to be an 
enourmous and completely empty warehouse, it's purpose still 
undetermined by those heading the project.

By the time we finished, I was almost feeling numb. The place had the 
absolute barest minimums to facilitate survival, but that was all.

With the approach of the dinner hour we headed back indoor, only to run 
into Inoue, who did not look pleased at all. Marching up to Kishita the 
man almost growled, "I thought I had made it perfectly clear that that 
Stone child was NOT to be allowed out of confinement, and yet I just saw 
her not ten minutes ago in the hallway! Explain yourself, Kishita!"

"Ms. Takemoto had expressed a desire in meeting with all of the 
children, Principle Inoue, and I was simply facilitating her wishes."

Principle?

His eyes tightening in outrage Inoue glanced in my direction a second 
before stating, "Well now she has, and I want that demon berserker 
locked away before she takes a sudden disliking to anyone else and 
hospitalizes them. She's a danger and a menace. Do you understand me?!"

Not batting an eyelash at the shorter man's finger being shaken in his 
face Kishita merely stated, "Of course I understand, Principle Inoue. In 
fact, I believe I may actually understand it better then you do... since 
that is why she was brought here to begin with, because she's dangerous. 
Just like all the rest of them."

The man hesitated for just a second before bleating out, "Take care of 
it!" and marching his way back to his office. I'm certain that the slam 
of his door could have been heard in the next district. Looking back to 
Kishita I found a raised hand facing me, stopping any question I might 
have asked. Then lowering to gesture at the envelopes that I was still 
carrying he said, "It is time to eat, and you should read those first."

With that, he then walked away.

A half hour later dinner arrived in the form of carryout bento boxes, 
and were as bland as I'd feared they would be. The children, minus Fleta 
but with the... thing still on Mee's head, sat loosely together eating 
their food and appearantly enjoying it as much as I did. When finished 
they dumped the empty cartons into garbage and quietly left.

However, this time they talked. Only a few whispered words amoungst 
themselves as they subtly watched me from across the room, but it was 
something, and I could already tell what was taking place.

They were starting to band together, in a typical 'us versus them' 
fashion, and I couldn't blame them. As far as I could tell, almost 
everyone else was out to get them.

I just hoped they hadn't already made up their minds about me.

For tonight, however, I had other things to worry about. With the 
arrival of my things I needed to unpack and get myself situated into my 
room. Then I began to make a list of every single thing I could possibly 
think of, in as much detail as possible, with the hopes of getting maybe 
a third of it.

If I was lucky.

After that, I went shopping.

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